Bake or Dare!: Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Its time! Time for all the wonderfully fresh seasonal spring/summer produce to begin hitting the shelves! Today my local grocery store had some wonderful looking blueberries on sale. I packed a bag full for the little man to munch on at school and decided I was going to try a new recipe with the rest.

I love baking a big loaf of banana bread or a big batch of muffins for breakfasts for the week. Easy to grab and they stay fresh for the week. I decided today to try my hand at some blueberry muffins. I generally don't like store bought muffins or store bought anything for that matter (I am a baking snob. If I know I can bake a better and fresher version of it at home I'm not gonna buy it :P) I was thinking there were two elements I really wanted to include with these muffins: Greek yogurt and lemon peel!

The Greek yogurt adds the perfect amount of moisture so you don't end up with sawdust muffins, and the lemon zest adds some fresh flavor so you're not overwhelmed by the sweet. Like most baked goods I recommend fresh out of the oven with butter ;)

Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 stick butter butter @ room temp	1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries 1 cup Greek Yogurt @ room temp 1/2 cup whole milk
Equipment: Mixing bowls Hand or stand mixer Muffin pan Non-stick spray Directions: Place rack in the middle of the oven. Heat oven to 375 degrees and spray muffin pan with non-stick spray. In a small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. On med speed cream the butter and add the sugar. Next add the eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Now we'll add the milk and Greek yogurt. Make sure to scrape down the sides and ensure that everything is well combined! You don't really wanna beat this very much once we add the flour as it will make for tough muffins! Now fold your blueberries into the flour mixture and all of them are evenly coated with the flour mixture. (I know this sounds weird but coating the berries will help them from sinking to the bottom of our muffins while baking). Gently fold the flour/blueberry mixture by hand into our wet ingredients. Fill muffin pan about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 14-16 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center come out clean. (As always you know your oven. Give them a check at 14 minutes and see if they really need the extra couple of minutes.) Pop out onto a cooling rack and enjoy! I personally recommend serving them spread with a little butter and some lemon curd on top. Mmmmmmm.
Yield:18 muffins	Calories per serving: 160